The meeting was called to order at 7:33 PM by President Chuck Horner. He introduced new/returning member Bill Carcot. Harold Smith has tickets for the door prize, a 32GB Lexar Jumpdrive.

If you have a questions for the experts at the end of the meeting, write it on one of the 3x5" cards on Harold’s table and leave it with him.

General announcements:

Sally Holt wonders why some people stop coming to meetings and those of us who are here keep coming. Some people come with friends. Chuck surmises that people feel overconfident about using their computers and only show up after a computer crash.

There is another Southwest Computer Conference in San Diego June 3-5. Diane George distributed a flier with the Southwest photo contest guidelines. More information at http://theswcc.org.

Clubhouse Hours:

Saturdays, this month: 8:30 AM-1:00 PM

Wednesdays: 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Clubhouse phone: 537-4138

Clubhouse Cookout tomorrow

Tip: always check the Web site for hours before going to the Clubhouse.

We need someone to help coordinate program presentations. If you’re interested, let someone on the Executive Committee know.

We also need folks to help with publicity.

SIG Announcements:

The Windows 7 SIG will meet at Bud’s house on the 12th at 1:00 PM. Topic still to be decided. Bud has made contact with Cue Publishing and had some fliers for user group discounts. Diane will put the information on the Web site, also.

Jan Fagerholm runs the Spectacular Linux SIG, which takes place on the last Saturday of the month. At the end of March they will probably be looking at the upcoming Ubuntu release.

The Hardware SIG, really a fixit SIG for both hardware and software. It takes place at 8:00 PM tomorrow night (the day after the Main Meeting) at the Smiths’. If you’ve got a problem with your computer, bring it in and it will likely get fixed.

More importantly, you’ll learn about fixing it yourself. Got something new you want help with? Bring that along too.

Presentation:

Via Skype, Gene Barlow presented two topics: organizing and protecting your hard drive.

Organize Your Hard Drive

Division of your Hard Drive: There are reasons to have more than one partition. One is better organization. The second reason is to protect files from system crashes and malware, which often seeks to destroy the C: drive. A third reason is to facilitate partition backups. Files in similar categories, such as photos or financial information, can be stored on different partitions. Different partitions can be backed up on different schedules. Gene recommends Acronis Disk Director 11. It was the first disk manager to work with Windows 7.

Protect your Hard Drive: Best Backup Approach: What is the best hardware? There are several internet sites that offer various backup services. The best media today is an external hard drive that can be stored safely away from your computer. They are fast and reliable. You need one that is approximately the same size as your hard drive.

There are two types of backup: file back up and partition backup. A file backup is a partial back up and does not preserve your applications. Today Acronis makes the best partition backup: True Image. The free backup software that comes free with Windows and many drives is file backup only. With a partition backup, you can restore quickly to the exact state before the crash.

Acronis True Image has several utilities, including Sandbox. A software sandbox is a protected environment that you can put your hard drive in during risky operations. 

It creates a virtual machine that can be deleted if a virus has come along during a download or a Web site visit.

At http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/drive-monitor/ you can download a free utility that will alert you when you need to back up or when your drive is beginning to experience errors.

After the break:

Diane George showed some of the photos from the Southwest Computer Conference photo contest.

She then invited those present to participate this year. More information at the conference website, http://theswcc.org

Bud Gallagher said that SP1 for Windows 7 has been released.

Sally Holt wonders if members would be interested in a raffle prize of a Blu-Ray player, with tickets being $10.00 instead of the usual $5.00--members voted no.

Thanks to George Kornbluth for taking care of refreshments.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 PM.

The next meeting will take place at the same location on April 1, 2011.

Respectfully submitted,

Bayle Emlein, Secretary